The Day And The Night
by BonneyQ
Summary: A collection of prompts for Boleska Week of 2014.
1. Contrast

**AN: **Hey there! So, this is a special week to us Boleskians because we'll have 7 days of Boleska love. What else could we ask for? _*cough*becoming canon again comes to mind, actually*cough*_ Anyways, here's my humble contribution to our ship week. I hope you guys like my work. Thanks for reading.

**The Day And The Night**

**#**

**DAY 01: Contrast**

**#**

The first time Bolin visited the Northern Water Tribe it was because Avatar Korra's search for new Airbenders led her there after hearing that three of the tribesmen started bending air and, since he had been traveling with Korra ever since the beginning, he saw no reason not to go and since he and the current Chief (who ruled with her brother) broke up in an amicable way, he was comfortable enough to visit and, just as predicted, Bolin and Eska were very polite with one another and the stay at the Northern Tribe hadn't been unpleasant at all.

To tell the truth, Bolin missed Eska and not knowing what to expect from the princess, but, unlike their meeting at the Southern Water Tribe, she wasn't (too) forceful with him, she was just herself and he appreciated that she would take the time to personally show the Tribe around, saying that a stroll around the town was the most exciting thing she had done it in a while, after all, ruling was boring; she liked to fight (Bolin internally agreed with her, after all, it had been his way of life for a long while by then).

Surprisingly enough, Eska's mother was the sweetest woman Bolin ever met. She looked like an older version of Eska down to the beads on her hair, hers were short, though. At the moment she met Bolin, the woman – Luna, she was called – smiled brightly just like when she met the other visitors (she even hugged Korra, to the Avatar's surprise, and told her that she didn't blame Unalaq's death on her at all – Bolin saw his friend get teary, he was sure).

"Ah, so _you_ are the famous Bolin." She said innocently when the rest of the Avatar's entourage followed Desna and the only ones in the room were Bolin, Eska and Luna herself.

"Yes, ma'am." The earthbender nodded proudly. "You must've seen the movers."

"Oh, no." Luna chuckled. "I mean, I _have_ seen those, but what I meant is that I heard from you from my daughter." Bolin was surprised but nodded in understanding as Eska snapped at her mother.

"Mother!" The princess hissed.

"What?" The older woman asked with fake innocence. "Desna told me that he was your boyfriend, wasn't it?"

"Boyfriend, slave, fiancée, ex, make-out guy and ex again, actually." Bolin informed Luna and saw, amused, as Eska narrowed her eyes towards him. His first instinct was to flee, but he knew she wouldn't hurt him.

"Oh my." Luna put a hand over her mouth. "Is that so?"

"Yes, ma'am." Bolin nodded. "Let me start from the beginning…" He, unceremoniously, put an arm around Luna's shoulder and started walking around with her – but before, he looked over his shoulder and winked at Eska, who stared daggers at him – and told the older northern woman about his relationship with her daughter.

Once the story was over – Bolin stopped a few times to act some scenes of their relationship, to Luna's entertainment and Eska's annoyance –, Luna nodded in understanding. "Yes, Eska can be quite forceful."

"_Mother_!" Eska protested and Bolin laughed with his ex' reaction.

Luna chuckled and pretended to whisper to Bolin: "She was never too good with waiting or being patient ever since she was a child, that's why she has very poor skills as a healer and why my husband chose to go against our old costumes and taught her how to fight instead."

"Yeah, I can totally see that happening." Bolin nodded. "She does like a fight, doesn't she?"

"She does, yes." Luna laughed and Eska rolled her eyes.

"_She_ is right here." The waterbender said. "Mother, go welcome cousin Korra better while I show Bolin the Tribe." She took a few steps towards the door, but stopped to talk to a guard who was standing there.

"Yes, yes, dear." The older woman smiled and turned to Bolin. "It was very nice to meet you, Bolin. You are such a bright boy."

"Uh… thanks. I guess." He frowned.

"You see…" Luna said casually. "We are people that relate more to the Moon, as you know." Bolin nodded, confused of why she was telling him that. "But the Moon doesn't shine without the Sun and you, my boy… you are like the Sun to my Eska."

Bolin started to feel uncomfortable. "Ma'am, we are not…"

"Look at her." Luna turned to look at her daughter, who was standing by the door, and Bolin did the same. "She didn't come back the same after she went to the Southern Water Tribe. Can you see it?"

Bolin truly looked at Eska for the first time and he could see what the older woman was talking about; that was not the Eska he met down South, she had lost some of the tightness on her shoulders, seemed much less tense and under the right light, she seemed almost… at peace – dared he say – as she talked to the guard and even if she was still a force to be reckon, she didn't scare him anymore. He always thought Eska was beautiful, but right then, she was even more.

"I see it." Bolin said softly and then turned to Luna. "But we have no intentions of being back together. I…" She interrupted him.

"That's the fun thing about life, dear boy: we never know what might happen in the future." The woman told him. "Plus, you two are just like the sun and the moon; the nice thing about this contrast is that sometimes they are great together." Luna winked. "And one day you might make my daughter shine even more. I heard she called you her _Turtle Duck_, the old Eska would never do that." Bolin actually blushed with that comment.

"_Mother_, leave Bolin alone." Eska's voice caught their attention. "Bolin, come. I want to show you those koalaotters you always wanted to see. You told me that you would like to know how Pabu would deal with them."

"Coming!" The earthbender smiled once more to Luna and then walked towards the princess. "Your mother is nice." He said as soon as he was standing next to her.

"Too nice sometimes." Eska shrugged and once more Bolin could see how different she was from when they first met. "Now come, I'll show you some koalaotters."

"I am seeing one right now." He winked and Eska tried to fight off a smile, but couldn't and just that tiny curl of her lips made him feel all fuzzy inside (he was pretty sure it wasn't Pabu moving inside his coat) and he grinned. "Lead the way, Princess of the Koalaotters."

**#**

**AN:** Tiny little thing, right? Well, in a couple of hours I'll update a chapter with 5k for day 2 to compensate!

08/18/2014 ~ **BonneyQ**


	2. Family

**AN: **So, today's prompt is actually _'Memories'_, but I jumped the gun. I hope you like it!

(_Oh, this can be seen as a second part of my other Boleska Fanfiction _**'The Turtle Duck and His Princess'**_, which you can find in my stories; but you don't have to read it to understand this one.)_

**The Day And The Night**

**#**

**DAY 2: Family**

**#**

When Eska was told that she was with child, she didn't feel any different than before knowing it, actually. It was expected of her to procreate – after all, even though she ruled the Northern Water Tribe with her brother, his children would be the next in line, but if something were to happen with Desna's progeny, hers would take place – and she had been quite _enthusiastic_ with her husband so it wasn't really a surprise that only five months into their marriage, she found herself pregnant.

The healer assured her that her nausea would stop in just a few weeks (which was the reason Eska searched for help in the first place) and beside annoyed with the lack of control over her own body, she felt nothing different whatsoever. The way her mother talked about how much Eska would change once she got her own children made the Princess believe that just the knowledge of a pregnancy would change the very way she saw the world.

But Eska of the Northern Water Tribe was no ordinary woman. Her husband, though, apparently got _all_ the excitement about their offspring and once he got her letter about the subject.

Bolin had been shooting the twelfth mover of the Nuktuk Series (it was still quite a hit) in Fire Nation lands for two weeks while Eska stayed back in Republic City, managing the Embassy and relationships with the current Head of State of each Nation, just as she and Desna had worked out once the Princess and Bolin rekindled their relationship two years prior – it just made sense, after all, they had the same line of thinking and they could easily communicate with radio.

The day she found out about carrying a child, her first letter was to her husband and after a whole page of telling him about her duties at Republic City during the two weeks he had been away, she thought that he'd might want to know sooner rather than later that he was to be a father.

'_P.S: I am to give birth in seven months, according to our healer.' _She added at the bottom of her letter, nodding at her great insight of adding it.

After sealing the letter, she wrote to her brother, telling him the same news and asking him to tell their mother about her upcoming grandchild – the second for her, as Desna's wife had given him a son soon after Eska's marriage – and adding a note that even if their mother wanted to run to Republic City, the Princess was fine and in no need of assistance, as she was only pregnant, not about to die with some disease. Her mother could be way too sentimental.

Five days later, Bolin was racing down the Embassy, kicking on her door with such a big smile that Eska wondered what his good news were – because, really, one did not travel in just two days from the Fire Nation to Republic City without driven by a strong incentive.

"Is it true?"

Eska was confused as she put the papers she had been handling down and pushing the happiness of seeing her husband from her expression. "Is what true?"

"We're having a baby?" The earthbender stepped inside her office and the Princess finally understood why he had traveled so fast and she could've sworn that she fell in love with him all over again that moment.

Instead of radioing her, he had rushed to see her. Her Turtleduck never ceased to amaze her.

The Princess stood from her chair and, with a rare smile – they were mostly reserved to her husband anyway – she nodded and saw his expression become even more thrilling and in two big steps, he had walked around the desk and hugged so very hard, like he never did before.

"Thank you." Bolin whispered over and over again and Eska couldn't do much other than hug him back and enjoy his strong arms around her and the familiar smell of her husband. After a minute of holding her, he took a step back and the waterbender saw him drying a few tears that had fell and the sight took her by surprise, especially when he kneeled in front of her and kissed her clothed stomach, saying it softly: "Hi, baby. I am your daddy and I can't wait to meet you."

Eska felt her own eyes burning with the sight, but blinked them away blaming the hormones she heard so much about, after all, it would take much worse to make her cry. Just because her _incredible_ husband had rushed back home in record time just to make sure she was really carrying his child, hugged her like crazy, cried with emotion and was being the sweetest man alive while talking to a fetus that couldn't understand a word he was saying just because he wanted to was _not_ going to make her cry.

**#**

Bolin probably was the most proud father-to-be Eska ever seen. He would tell pretty much everyone that his wife was pregnant and that even though she wasn't showing just yet, the baby was there and he was going to be a dad. His excitement was so real that he couldn't help but to make everyone around him happy for their child, even Mako had been happy for his little brother once he had found out.

"Nice one, Bo!" The firebender hugged his brother, slapping him in a friendly way on the back. "Mom and Dad would be happy for you, you know?" Eska heard her brother-in-law say quietly.

"Yeah, I know." Bolin answered and when they let go of each other, Mako turned to the Princess while the other man went to find Eska a chair (he thought she couldn't do anything anymore and Eska still had to talk to him about that).

"Congratulations." He offered her a smile and the waterbender nodded in return.

"Thank you." Eska put a hand over her stomach without even realize (she had been doing that a lot for the past week). "As you can see, Bolin is thrilled."

Mako chuckled. "Yeah, I noticed." At the beginning of the return of their relationship, Eska got the impression that the police officer didn't approve of her relationship with Bolin, but when he saw that Eska was actually trying to be better for him and that Bolin was actually happy in being with her, Mako let the subject go. "How are _you_ feeling about it?"

She thought it over for a moment; nothing had changed yet to her other the fact that Bolin was excited. "I am happy he is happy."

Eyeing her carefully, Mako said with caution: "Yeah. Bo always wanted to be a dad for as long as he understood the concept; I think he'll do great. The kid will have him wrapped on his or hers little finger from the first moment he sees it, though." Eska nodded in agreement and saw Mako soften his golden eyes. "I am happy he is happy too."

After that, Bolin returned and rushed Eska to sit on it and the three of them kept talking about the child – as it seemed the only thing the earthbender was going to be able to talk about during the next few months – and the Princess was glad that she had found common ground with her brother-in-law: they were both very keen on maintaining that unique sparkle that drove Bolin alive.

Asami was also very happy with the news and congratulate the couple as soon as she heard about it – she took a day off work to personally go to the Embassy to talk to them – and even if Eska never had 'girlfriends' before, Asami and Korra would be the ones that could fall closer to the category.

Speaking of the Avatar, Korra was thrilled on becoming an Aunt once again – being an only child left her with no other way of being one other than by her cousins and surrogate siblings – and couldn't help but to smile brightly through Bolin's speech about their baby and making the right questions on the right time, for the man's delight.

Eska's mother had stayed with them for a month once Eska reached her fourth month of pregnancy even after the Princess had told her that it had no necessity to go to Republic City whatsoever, but her mother would have none of it and as soon as she could leave her duties at the North (especially to leave her first grandchild for a long length of time) she was there and Bolin loved to have his mother-in-law around, much to Eska's relief. He often asked why such a sweet lady ended up with Unalaq and not even Eska could answer that; it did seem a little unbalanced as her mother was indeed a sweet nice woman.

What amused Eska the most, though, were Bolin's questions. He had such an imagination that he often came up with things like: _"What if the baby is a mudbender? I mean, water and earth equals mud, right? Who's gonna teach it _that_? It would be very handy in mud fights, though" _and _"What if we have the first two element bending child? Like, it can be like the Avatar, but… you know, just _half_ of it. We can call this super power the Ava. Or the Tar. Did you see what I did there?"_

There was no quiet day and Eska liked it very much.

**#**

The first time Eska really felt differently about her pregnancy (she didn't get bothered by the way her breasts got bigger alongside with her waistline, after all, it was to be expected and Bolin seemed to like her as big as possible when it concerned the pregnancy) was when she first felt it move.

She had been returning to the Embassy from the Police Station alongside with her brother-in-law after dealing with Lin Bei Fong and Mako about a Northerner that was being held there and waiting for prosecution when she first felt it.

At first, she thought nothing of it until she felt it a second time, recalling what her mother and sister-in-law had told her about the flutter that was to feel their child for the first time and by the time she felt it again, she knew that it was what they meant.

The Princess didn't even know that she had stopped talking in the middle of a sentence about the fairness of the trial for the criminal, with a hand pressed on her stomach and eyes wide open until she felt Mako ask worriedly about her health. "Eska? Are you alright? Is it the baby? Are you hurt? What is it?"

Reaching for his forearm without even realize, she whispered: "I think I felt it move."

"Really?" Mako's voice was still full of concern. "Is it a good thing? I… I don't really know much about this."

Eska felt it once more and she finally understood what her mother had been talking about, that once she got pregnant, she would change.

The moment she felt her child move inside her, that was the moment she became a mother; all of a sudden her emotions finally processed the fact that there was this little human inside her that she had made with Bolin, the man she loved more than her life and that she would do anything for it.

The feeling wasn't smart, it wasn't planned, and it wasn't something subtle, as it took her whole. No, that was a feeling that she just knew it wasn't going to go away.

"It is good." With her shaken up voice and as tears threatening to fall she looked so pathetic, Eska would think later on, since she never showed that sentimental side of herself to anyone other than Desna and Bolin. "It's… _very_ good."

Taking in her stance, Mako sighed in relief when he noticed that she was fine, after all if anything happened to Eska or the baby, Bolin would've been devastated. After a moment, he softly told her: "Come on, let me take you home. You've had a big day today."

Eska snapped out of it and tried to recompose herself the best she could. "But the papers…"

The firebender shook his head. "Someone else can give them to me. Let me take you to Bolin." Mako said gently. "Besides, what is the perk of being a princess if you can't go home early once in a while?"

**#**

Once Bolin learned that Eska could feel their child, he got very excited and then pretty sad when he couldn't feel it just yet and his wife had to actually calm him down once he started moping around because of it.

After being reassured that he would feel the baby in no time, Bolin perked up and counted the days for it to happen to him. As the pregnancy progressed, he talked more and more to her belly – it happened so often that sometimes Eska would just keep reading some boring report while her husband talked excitedly – and once she was alone, Eska would enjoy the feeling of her child moving and wondered if they would have a boy or a girl, an earth or a water bender (maybe not a bender at all), and how he or she would look like.

Maybe the pregnancy did change her a little bit; the Princess felt a lot more protective of her unborn child than before and definitely more inclined of physical contact (not that she heard any complaints from Bolin – to whom she was particularly craving for all the time – and he seemed to find that part of the pregnancy a bonus when he wasn't exhausted) even from their relatives touching her stomach, she was fine with it.

Another point that seemed to please her was that Bolin just loved the roundness of her stomach and seemed fascinated by it and the sight didn't decrease his want for her at all, on the contrary which was more than fine by her.

The first time Bolin felt their child move, though, Eska could honestly say that she never saw him happier, not even when he first learned the news.

Varrick was giving a big dinner at his mansion – somehow he made the charges against him go away, of course – and Bolin had asked his wife to come with him, after all, Varrick's parties were always full of important people and the Northern Tribe needed more connections.

They were waiting for the dinner to begin while talking to the ambassador of the Fire Nation and his wife – Bolin was being his charming self while Eska mostly stood by his side – when Eska felt the baby move and by then she was feeling more at ease every time it happened, so when she put a hand over her growing stomach, she didn't think she would feel it with the palm of her hand.

She gasped lightly and before the baby could stop doing it and Bolin lost the opportunity (she would not hear the end of it if he lost it), Eska grabbed her husband's hand and put it over her stomach.

Bolin stopped talking with the Fire Nation couple to look weirdly at Eska. "What is it? Are you hungry? I bet the dinner will be ready in no tim-" he stopped talking as soon as he felt the flutter underneath his palm. "Wow, you _are_ really hungry, aren't ya?"

"Bolin." It was all she said before looking down to her stomach and then back at him.

It finally dawned him why he could feel the movement inside and his eyes widened. "Are you saying that…?" The brunette woman nodded seeing Bolin put his other hand over her stomach – the Fire Nation ambassadors forgotten by both – and the earthbender waited and a moment later, the flutter from inside her belly happened again and Bolin let out a chuckle of disbelief. "Ha! I… I felt it! Spirits, I felt it!" He laughed and Eska could see that his eyes got shiny with unshed tears. "Hi there, little guy. Or girl. Whatever, I don't have a preference."

"I told you that you would feel it when the time was right." Eska whispered to her husband, who was still pretty much in love with the sensation underneath his fingertips.

"You were right." Bolin kissed her forehead and the waterbender smiled with the gesture, no matter how hard she tried to conceal it. "I am so glad you were right. Thank you for this."

Needless to say, Bolin didn't concentrate on the following dinner, preferring much more to touch his wife's stomach in hope to feel their child a little longer more while Eska ate dutifully while talking to an ambassador from the Southern Tribe, but also paying attention on how much love those fingers transferred to her.

**#**

When Eska reached the sixth month of her pregnancy, she had a scheduled meeting with the Earth Prince and, of course, Bolin didn't let her go alone, using the time after to meet up with his family from the Earth Kingdom.

They stopped by the house Bolin and Mako helped their grandmother – and many cousins – built when they had enough income to help them out and their rather loud family was speechless when Bolin brought Eska, the Northern Water Tribe Princess, to introduce as his fiancée a year before. His grandmother had been a little uncomfortable with the princess at first but soon saw through her. It took a while for her and the rest of his family to be comfortable with one another, though, but Eska soon saw them as entertaining as she had found her Bolin when they first met.

This time, when they approached the house, Eska's stomach was protuberant for her tiny form and Bolin's family was surrender speechless once more – for just a few moments, they were a very loud bunch, truly – before they made a party out of it, as usual.

After greeting everyone, Bolin rushed Eska to sit down while he went to speak with his many cousins. A few of the women sit around the Princess and started to share about their own pregnancies and Eska found most of it tremendously boring and when her back started aching because of her position, the Princess excused herself for a walk, she found that when moving, her back hurt less.

When she finally found the bathroom and used it, she walked out and sighed, putting a hand on her lower back; she felt strongly for her child, but sometimes she just got _so_ tired, that she just wanted a day to just sleep it off and she thought that maybe the trip to the Earth Kingdom was a little too much for her in the condition she was in. Maybe she should've listened to Bolin when he said that someone else should take the trip to see the Prince.

"I had my fair share of children, my dear, and helped many more come to this world." Yin's chuckle came from her left side and Eska turned around slightly towards her. "The little one makes you feel a little uncomfortable, isn't it right?"

"Yes." Eska agreed, not bothered to tell the elderly woman about it like she did while everyone else's presence. "I need to go to the bathroom all the time, it makes it awful to find a good position to sleep, my back and feet hurt all the time and my breasts feel heavy and bother me."

"Yet…" Yin pressed.

"_Yet,_" the Princess agreed, caressing her stomach "it is worth it."

The older woman hummed in agreement. "My son went to Republic City to try to make a life for himself, found a woman and had two beautiful boys. I only got to meet my grandsons when they were all grown-ups and to tell you the truth, my girl, I never thought I'd live to see them, much less a great-grandchild coming from either of them." Yin said, with tears in her eyes, and reached for one of Eska's hand, wrapping them on her own. "So, I thank you for having this opportunity."

Eska could feel a lump forming on her throat, but held it together and blinked the tears away. "I am glad you are happy, Grandmother." Eska had taken the habit to call the older woman respectfully as 'Grandmother' and she didn't seem to mind.

"A baby is always a reason to be happy about, my dear." Yin chuckled, letting go of the waterbender's hands and reaching for Eska's noticeable stomach, stopping midway after recalling her grandson telling how his wife felt about being touched on the stomach by other people. "May I?" With a nod, Eska saw as Yin touched her stomach gently and a moment later, the baby kicked right where her hand was and the older woman laughed happily. "Oh, hello to you too, love."

"It takes after Bolin." Eska couldn't help but to smile with the woman's excitement. "I _hope_ it takes after Bolin."

"And why is that?" The older woman frowned in confusion. "You are such a beautiful special girl."

"I…" Eska pushed down the emotion that came up with the subject, especially when it was brought by her husband's sweet grandmother. "It's not easy to be like me, to have trouble understanding a person's emotions as I am not familiar with them or its importance most of the times. And people can be cruel. _Children_ can be cruel too." The Princess put her own hand protectively over her stomach without even realize while she thought about all the whispers she heard by accident about the sentimentless twins and how no adult dared to say anything on their faces because of Unalaq's status as Chief, but the children… they had said some hurtful things when no adult was around that even she got down and she was glad for Desna's company then – and the fact that they were being training in waterbending and no one dared to say anything later on.

"Oh, my darling girl." Yin put a hand on Eska's cheek. "There's nothing wrong in being unique. Sometimes, the greatest people we meet in our lives have the most unusual ways of handling things. Bolin himself sees the world in his own way and people just fall in love with his antics because that's how he is, but he also make enemies because of this very same quality. We can't please everyone and we can't judge one's way of living their own life until we walked a mile on their shoes.

"You had to make some tough choices in such a young age, just like my grandson, and in the end you chose to stay by the Avatar's side because it was the right thing to do even after your father taught you differently." The older woman smiled. "This shows me that you have more strength in yourself that you believe you have. Stop thinking about the way things _were_ and start thinking about how things _will be_. I know you want to protect your baby by wishing it is nothing like you, but in my opinion, it would be lucky to be like you." Eska had to quickly swipe a couple of tears away, but Yin saw them anyways and for the first time in a very long time, her tears meant to be of feeling good instead of weakness. "And if you are so worried about the baby being like _you_, don't: it will be a mix of both you and Bolin." Yin said. "That's what makes a child so amazing to a parent: every once in a while, even if you have a little copy of yourself, you'll see a trait that will remind you of him or vice-versa."

Eska sniffled (damn, hormones!) and nodded. "Thank you."

"Nothing to thank me for, dear. I was just being honest." Yin shrugged and pulled her granddaughter-in-law for a hug and that's how Bolin found them. It took him a moment to take in the scene in front of him: his sweet grandmother, hugging her seemingly cold hearted pregnant wife warmly while said wife teared up.

Bolin leaned on the doorframe, memorizing the scene and when Eska's eyes met his, the earthbender said softly: "She can touch you right in the heart, can't she?"

The Princess saw no reason to lie to her husband, and without being released by the older woman, answered: "Yes."

"Go, grandma!" Bolin cheered and his grandmother chuckled and even Eska couldn't hold back a smile.

**#**

The day Eska got into labor she and her husband had been walking around the Northern Water Tribe (as the little princess or prince inside her liked best). The couple had decided that they would spend the last month of her pregnancy at her homeland because they had the most skilled healers there and Eska and the baby's safety came first.

When she woke up that day, she knew her pain wasn't the usual ache – she knew it was different by instinct – and chose not to say a word to Bolin, knowing that he would just start worrying unnecessarily, the Princess did tell her mother to keep the healers informed that the possibility of the baby coming soon was a possibility, though, and during the whole day she could feel people (sent by her mother, no doubt), taking a closer look at her.

At lunch, Eska chose not to eat anything and when Bolin asked her why, she told him that the baby didn't feel like eating squid that day and that she would have something to eat later. Accepting her explanation (seeing that some things still made her fell nauseous) and during the whole meal with her mother, brother, sister-in-law and husband and whenever Eska felt pain she squeezed the armchair. When the pain became too hard to bear without whimpering, Eska touched Bolin's arm after the meal was done and told him, as expressionless as ever, only the few drops of sweat on her forehead an indication of her distress: "Bolin, I am giving birth."

Bolin, who was getting up from the chair, stopped midway and looked to his wife, as did Desna and his wife: "Excuse me?"

"The child, I am having it." Eska informed him, getting up from her own chair, grabbing it for support. "I have known since we woke up this morning and mother once told me that walking could make things go faster but now it seems that the pain will only get worse and a bed is most desired for this." Bolin just stood with eyes wide open staring at her for a few moments and seeing that he would be like that for a couple of more, Eska turned to her mother. "Mother, are the chambers ready?"

"Of course." The woman nodded and walked towards her daughter. "And so are the healers. How is the pain?"

"Annoying." Eska sighed and then turned to her husband. "_Bolin._" She said with authority in her voice, just like when they first met and the earthbender immediately snapped out of it.

"Yes, my Koalaotter!" He immediately saluted her without even thinking.

Eska took a few steps in his direction. "You said you wanted to be with me while the birth is happening, didn't you?"

"Yes." Bolin nodded.

The princess stopped in front of him. "Then come. It seems that we'll become parents today." The earthbender looked down to her stomach and gulped, putting a hand over it carefully.

"T-today?"

"It appears so." She said softly and then grabbed his forearm when another wave of pain hit her and she bit her lower lip and moaned the quieter she could and the princess missed the way his eyes widened, after all, for Eska to show any kind of pain, it was something he could count in one hand the times he saw it.

"Eska?" Bolin asked in a tiny voice, she noticed, when she loosened her grip on him.

Taking a deep breath, the woman answered him. "It's over for now."

"_Eska_…" This time his tone was a worried one but the waterbender assured him that she was fine and after a long time staring at her, he nodded. Bolin put an arm around her and followed his mother-in-law – who called them so they could move Eska to the bedroom where she could rest and have the child – and Desna, who was ordering people around to prepare for the birth of the prince or princess (before turning to his own wife and tell her to stay with their son, that he would be with them soon) while Bolin had his attention focused solely focused on his wife.

She was putting a strong façade for him, but he knew her too well and knew that inside she was scared; not of the pain, Eska was one of the toughest women he knew (and that was saying something) and she could take it, but she was afraid of something, he could tell but decided to stay by her side without asking anything.

**#**

Eska loved Bolin dearly, she really did, but as soon as the contractions started to get worse and she would get e little louder at every time, Bolin would get more nervous and Eska had snapped at him a few times, even when it was obvious he was just worried. To his defense, though, when a contraction came, he'd give her his hand and she would squeeze it tight and the earthbender wouldn't even flinch, focusing on Eska's pain instead of his and he'd rubbed her back just the right way.

"The princess is strong." Eska heard one of the healers tell Bolin while her mother sat by her side, trying to soothe her when a contraction hit and her husband was talking worriedly with the primary healer of why Eska wasn't being too vocal (he was told that women were very noisy during childbirth). "Some women are much louder with their pain, but not her; it doesn't mean something is wrong. We are monitoring her and the child; don't worry Master Bolin."

But as time passed, even quieter than most, the pain started to get worse and every time she'd make a pained sound, she could see Bolin's worries risen, but he stayed by her side the whole time.

When it was time, the healer told Bolin to stay behind her and held her hand as she was told to push. "You are doing great, Eska." He whispered over and over again and she thought that at some point she would snap at him and tell him to shut up, but it seemed that it only made her get stronger with each push. "You can do this." Bolin said, grasping her hand just as hard as she was grasping his.

Of course she could do this. She was Eska of the Northern Tribe, one of its Chiefs and she was strong, she had waited for this moment for months and she would do it no matter what; she would give her husband what he most wanted in his life.

With a final moan of pain, Eska gave one last push and, panting and sweating, she finally fell back onto Bolin's chest; a moment later, a newborn's cry was heard and all the pain she felt for hours seemed to vanish as she opened her eyes (when had she closed them?) and saw the most beautiful being on Earth being held by the healer.

Of course, the child was covered in something gooey and was a screaming red mess, but it looked like the most beautiful thing she's ever seen.

"It's a girl."

"A girl." Bolin whispered and Eska could only imagine that he had his eyes glued on their daughter, with as much amazement as she did at that moment. "A girl." He said it again.

It seemed that Eska couldn't do anything other than to grab Bolin's hand and watch as the healer cut the cord, cleaned and wrapped the newborn in a blanket and giving the baby to her grandmother.

Eska didn't even thought about it, but the next thing she knew was that she held her arms towards the baby without saying a word. All she wanted was to have that tiny human close to her.

Once Luna gave the baby to Eska, the newborn was close to her chest and as soon as she did, the baby stopped her cries as if recognized her mother and the princess stared at the child she had made with her husband and suddenly everything was right in the world even with the way her eyes started to sting and her vision got blurry.

"She's… perfect." Bolin whispered, touching the baby's head. "She's so beautiful." He kissed Eska's temple. "_You_ are so beautiful." He was lying, of course; there was no way that she looked nothing more than a mess after being in labor for so many hours she lost count. "Thank you. Thank you."

"Thank _you_." Eska looked up to her husband and only then she felt the tears falling down. Bolin was crying even more than her and if she had been watching the scene from outside, she would've thought that both were ridiculous, but seeing that she was living the moment of having a child (the most beautiful baby in the world, mind you) with the man she loved, she couldn't think of anything else other than she had never been happier.

"Can… Can I name her?" Bolin asked quietly and the princess nodded, returning her gaze to the baby, as did the earthbender. He stayed in silence for a moment before saying: "Alaska. A mixture between your name, and my mom's: Alana." He whispered. "The two women I love the most naming our girl seems appropriate."

"Yes." Eska nodded, their little bubble of happiness seemed so perfect that she didn't even noticed the other people in the room with them.

"Hi there, Alaska." Bolin touched the child's cheek, his arm around Eska's shoulders tightening. "We are your parents and we have been waiting a long time for you." The baby whimpered and Bolin chuckled between his tears. "Don't you worry, everyone seems pretty crazy, but they will love you, just like we do. Welcome to our family."

**#**

**AN:** So, I tried to show more about Eska's side of being a member of Bolin's the family while making their own plus showing that she would change a lot after getting pregnant. I hope you liked it and it wasn't too OOC!

I named the baby Alaska for obvious reasons (Up North, full of Ice… you get my thinking) but here's the meaning: _Alaska comes from the Aleut "Alyeska" meaning "that which the sea breaks against". _And since we have no idea what Bolin's mother name was, I named her Alana.

Special thanks to **Jeimii-chan2009** and **Guest**, who reviewed last chapter. Thank you very much to take the time, guys! Much love to you and everyone who read it!

08/19/2014 ~ **BonneyQ**


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